Lower Manhattan Real Estate Year in Review 2017

The Alliance for Downtown New York is pleased to release our annual real estate year in review providing a review of commercial office, retail, residential, hospitality and development projects happening in 2017.

Major findings include:

• Employment – At nearly 242,000 jobs, private-sector employment reached its highest level in 16 years. The largest increases were seen in the professional services, healthcare and hotel & food service industries.
• Commercial Leasing – Lower Manhattan logged its highest year-end leasing activity since 2014 at 5.5 million square feet and the vacancy rate dropped to the lowest level since early 2013. TAMI and government sectors led the market with nearly 60 percent of all new activity. Lower Manhattan continued its popularity with technology and media companies, including deals signed by Spotify, Macmillan Publishers and ESPN Studios.
• Hotel – Over 440 hotel rooms in two hotels opened this past year. Occupancy is up three percentage points since the fourth quarter of 2015, even as the district added more than 1,700 rooms in that time. The strong performance in the district's average daily room rates can be attributed to new luxury hotel properties entering the market.
• Retail – Over 110 retailers opened in 2017, including over 60 bars and restaurants, like Nobu (which relocated from Tribeca), Blue Ribbon Federal Grill and The Mailroom.
• Residential – This past year, 1,100 residential units in seven buildings opened, with nearly another 1,000 set to open in 2018. Residential sales metrics set records in mid-2017, but cooled down as the legacy contract pipeline neared completion at high profile, luxury properties.
• Transportation – NYC Ferry was unveiled and ridership exceeded projections. All routes have a stop at Pier 11-Wall Street, further expanding Lower Manhattan's already robust transportation network.